Modern database systems provide processes for generating database backup files and for using such backup files to recover from database crashes. Some systems utilize a backup catalog to specify information regarding previously-generated backup files, such as ID, host, service, location, size, etc. The backup catalog itself may be stored in the data area of a database and may therefore be backed-up during each data backup. Both the backup catalog and its corresponding backup files may become large and cumbersome over time, and systems are desired to efficiently manage these entities.